The referee must have been pretty certain of what he heard, judging by his reaction. I suppose that if there's a difference of opinion, and no hard evidence, then the union has to go with the referee.

In general, as good as I think Sergio is, and I think he's possibly the best 8 in the world, his on-field behaviour has become increasingly tiresome, with ever-greater levels of backchat, arm-waving etc. I guess it was only a matter of time before something like this happened.

Sergio needs to stop believing his own publicity and get on with playing rugby.